Quentin Willson is one of Britain’s best-known motoring authorities and is lead campaigner for FairFuelUK. He spent over a decade presenting BBC's Top Gear and was largely responsible for bringing the once scandalously high prices of new cars in the UK down to the same level as the rest of Europe.

Monthly Archives: MARCH 2012

Today it was announced by Experian Catalist that the average price of a litre of unleaded petrol hit 140.20 pence. No surprises to most of us, but the Chancellor could have done something to prevent this happening. And
this is still not including the planned 3p increase to be added in August.

Quentin Willson,
national spokesman for FairFuelUK said,"I told the
Chancellor this would happen. Oil prices are going up and up and up. Mr Osborne
could have acted to cushion the UK economy but he ignoredour warnings and
the desperate please of the tens of millions of people who can’t cope with the
highest cost of petrol and diesel ever seen in this country”

Howard Cox, FairFuelUK's
communications spokesman said,"Since the
Budget, the FairFuelUK website has been bombarded by tens of thousands of
supporters who are telling us they will be completely crippled by the current
high cost of petrol and diesel, many small businesses are forecasting
insolvency, supporters’ families will not be able to afford to get to work and
have any money left just to exist. How could the Chancellor ignore FairFuelUK’s
pre-Budget research of using a cut in fuel duty to stimulate the economy? It
beggars belief!”

Why not take part in our web poll and let us know how you have fared following the Budget this week. It can be found on our home page

Quentin Willson, national spokesman for FairFuelUK said, "The
Government has turned its back on families and businesses all across the
country. Three quarters of the electorate who want lower fuel prices. It
ignores the threat of rising global oil prices

FairFuelUK has welcomed the findings of the YouGov Poll which
today confirms that a cut in fuel duty is the country's top priority for
tomorrows Budget. The figures show that a cut in fuel duty is seen as more
important than other measures such as cutting the 50p rate or changing personal
thresholds.

Quentin Willson, national spokesman for FairFuelUK said, ‘This
poll is proof positive that the country is clamouring for action on petrol
& diesel taxes. If you combine these findings with our research showing
that the Chancellor can cut fuel duty by 2.5p per litre and be no worse off, we
have the most compelling case imaginable for immediate action on fuel duty'.

I've just filled my car with the most expensive diesel ever. A villainous £1.48 a litre. The man at the pump next to me agreed that the price of fuel had passed the point of insanity and he didn't know if the credit card he was about to use would be declined. Every day, at every filling station in the UK there's the same angst, heartbreak and fear. And of the £120 I paid to fill my car up, (a shocking figure) I know that only £48 goes to the oil company, the rest of that £72 is made up of layers of iniquitous and economy-strangling taxes. Ironic isn't it, that the day before the budget the price of petrol and diesel has reached its most expensive level ever? Road fuel is no longer affordable.

Every survey and then some shouts the same thing. We're not bothered with mansion taxes or 50 p tax thresholds. The vast majority of UK citizens want a significant reduction in their fuel costs. This is the issue that matters most to most people. The dire urgency on everybody's lips.

Yet when I hear the Prime Minister talking about our crumbling road network and the need for private finance to develop our transport infrastructure he misses one dirigible-sized point. We can't afford to use the roads we've got, never mind pay the tolls on the brave new road economy he wants to build. There's such a massive disconnect between his vision of a free-flowing transport system and the brutal reality that the vast majority of road users and transport providers are being priced off the existing road system. These are the policies of the asylum - where one minister presents a sun-lit vision of congestion-free mobility for all while the other crushes and confounds it with a tax regime designed to actually drive people off the roads. This epic disconnect is staggering, deeply worrying and says much about Westminster's inability to understand our transport-based economy.

If the Chancellor presses ahead with a rise in fuel tax and fails to take significant steps to make petrol and diesel more affordable for all, then the electorate will never forgive him or his party. Their policies and visions will be mortally wounded. These are indeed dark times, but I'm beginning to wonder if our politicians understand just how dark they're about to get.

The national campaign
group on petrol & diesel taxes, FairFuelUK has made a final plea to the
Chancellor that he should use his Budget to decisively cut Fuel Duty.

Quentin Willson, national
spokesman for FairFuelUK said, 'Budget day should be 'Cut
Fuel Duty Day'. All the
polling shows that the soaring cost of filling the family car, the business van
or the company truck is right at the top of people's priority list. We have given the Government evidence based
on their own model that even a modest cut in fuel duty of 2.5p per litre would
create 175,000 jobs and boost growth.
This boost to growth means that the Treasury will not lose any revenue
overall. In other words, the one thing
that he can definitely afford to do is cut fuel duty. This is the right thing for families, for
business and for the Chancellor himself. As this won't cost him anything, he is
still then free to change other taxes if he so wishes. The
country is looking for bold and decisive action - scrap the 3p rise planned for
August and cut fuel duty now'.

FairFuelUK is supported by
over 220,000 members of the public, the RAC, the RHA, FTA and The Fuelcard
Company plus 150 Parliamentarians.

The CEBR Report showing a cut in fuel duty will
generate jobs andstimulate the economy at no cost to the Treasury is available
for download at www.fairfueluk.com/cebr.html